Ward 6 - Newsletter Steve Kozachik Ward 6 Staff Painted Hills In 2006 the Dallas Firefighter pension system bought the Painted Hills undeveloped land out in the Tucson Mountains for about $27M. Their intent was to build a 260 unit housing develop- ment on the land. Doing that would have in- volved the City providing water service to the area. It’s outside of City limits and we fought them in court and at the State Legislature to both resist facilitating the development and, in the process, to protect our ability to set our own water policy. We won both fights. The fallout was that we’d work with the County to find some land to swap, make the pension fund somewhat whole, and preserve the Painted Hills parcel in its undisturbed condition. Those efforts never panned out. But last week through some nimble negotiating between the County and the representatives of the Fund, an offer to purchase that makes sense was made. In 2004 the voters approved money for the purchase and set aside of open space located in and around the City of Tucson. The offer now being considered is for the sale of the land from the Pen- sion Fund to the County for just over $8M. A portion of the 2004 Bond money will be used for the down payment, and the balance will be paid off over 5 years. That time frame can be shortened if a 2015 Bond election allocates more funds that can be used for an early payoff. Our role in the transaction is to approve an amendment to the 2004 Bond package that will allow it to be used for this specific parcel. If the M&C doesn’t approve it, you will see me fall out of my chair. We’ve dug in our heels to protect this land for the entire time I’ve been on the Council. I be- lieve this is a win for our ability to enforce our own water policy, a win in standing up to the State Legislature, and a win for the preservation of the Painted Hills property as open space out in Tucson Mountain Park. Headline Hype Last week I sent out a Press Release related to the unaccompanied minors who are being dropped off at the Nogales detention center. The Star blog on it was totally accurate. The headline that accompanied the blog was not. That’s by design. Media outlets know that people scan their papers and will stop to read articles based on whether or not there’s something that grabs them in the headline. The accurate headline for my Release would have been “CM K calls on Mayor to activate City emergency preparedness group.” The Star headline was “CM K calls for declaration of an emergency.” Very different in both content, and intent. In its simplest form, I believe the coordination and planning for how the community responds to this Ann Charles Diana Amado Tucson First June 18, 2014 Molly Thrasher Amy Stabler Evelyn Romero
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Ward 6 - Newsletter - Tucson...2014/06/18 · Ward 6 - Newsletter Steve Kozachik Ward 6 Staff Painted Hills In 2006 the Dallas Firefighter pension system bought the Painted Hills
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Ward 6 - Newsletter Steve Kozachik
Ward 6 Staff
Painted Hills
In 2006 the Dallas Firefighter pension system
bought the Painted Hills undeveloped land out in
the Tucson Mountains for about $27M. Their
intent was to build a 260 unit housing develop-
ment on the land. Doing that would have in-
volved the City providing water service to the
area. It’s outside of City limits and we fought
them in court and at the State Legislature to both
resist facilitating the development and, in the
process, to protect our ability to set our own
water policy. We won both fights.
The fallout was that we’d work with the County
to find some land to swap, make the pension
fund somewhat whole, and preserve the Painted
Hills parcel in its undisturbed condition. Those
efforts never panned out. But last week through some nimble negotiating between the County and
the representatives of the Fund, an offer to purchase that makes sense was made.
In 2004 the voters approved money for the purchase and set aside of open space located in and
around the City of Tucson. The offer now being considered is for the sale of the land from the Pen-
sion Fund to the County for just over $8M. A portion of the 2004 Bond money will be used for the
down payment, and the balance will be paid off over 5 years. That time frame can be shortened if a
2015 Bond election allocates more funds that can be used for an early payoff.
Our role in the transaction is to approve an amendment to the 2004 Bond package that will allow it
to be used for this specific parcel. If the M&C doesn’t approve it, you will see me fall out of my
chair. We’ve dug in our heels to protect this land for the entire time I’ve been on the Council. I be-
lieve this is a win for our ability to enforce our own water policy, a win in standing up to the State
Legislature, and a win for the preservation of the Painted Hills property as open space out in Tucson
Mountain Park.
Headline Hype
Last week I sent out a Press Release related to the unaccompanied minors
who are being dropped off at the Nogales detention center. The Star blog on
it was totally accurate. The headline that accompanied the blog was not.
That’s by design. Media outlets know that people scan their papers and will
stop to read articles based on whether or not there’s something that grabs
them in the headline. The accurate headline for my Release would have
been “CM K calls on Mayor to activate City emergency preparedness group.” The Star headline was
“CM K calls for declaration of an emergency.” Very different in both content, and intent.
In its simplest form, I believe the coordination and planning for how the community responds to this
Ann Charles
Diana Amado
Tucson First June 18, 2014
Molly Thrasher
Amy Stabler
Evelyn Romero
P A G E 2
Continued: A Message From Steve
Tucson Police
Department
911 or 791-4444
nonemergency
Mayor & Council
Comment Line
791-4700
Neighborhood
Resources
791-4605
Park Wise
791-5071
Water Issues
791-3242
Pima County Animal Control
243-5900
Street Maintenance 791-3154
Planning and Development Services 791-5550
Southwest Gas
889-1888
Gas Emergency/Gas Leaks
889-1888
West Nile Virus
Hotline
243-7999
Environment
Service
791-3171
Graffiti Removal
792-2489
AZ Game & Fish
628-5376
Important
Phone Numbers
emerging situation should be coming from the Office of the Mayor. Here’s the text of the Release I issued
last Friday:
The State of Arizona has become the destination for hundreds of unaccompanied minors from across Cen-
tral America. Within the past week, it became an issue with local impact for the City of Tucson and Pima
County. From all accounts the situation is going to continue. Now is not the time for us to sit and wait in a
reactive posture.
I applaud Bishop Kicanas, Supervisor Elias and Council Member Romero for their efforts to get ahead of
the issue and work with local and Federal agencies to address the needs that already exist in our communi-
ty. Their work points us as a region in the right direction.
At our most recent City Council meeting we adopted the City of Tucson Emergency Operations Plan. That
plan provides the framework for a coordinated response before, during and after an emergency that affects
the City of Tucson. It catalyzes City of Tucson interaction with Regional, State and Federal agencies, as
well as with Non-Governmental Organizations. The intent of the Plan is to coordinate a response through
the effective combination of resources that each agency can bring to bear on the emergency.
It's time for the Mayor and City Manager to activate the Emergency Operations Response team and begin
proper coordination of Local, Regional, State and Federal assets before we lose the ability to effectively
deal with local conditions in a humane manner. That team should seriously weigh the option of a Mayoral
Declaration of Emergency to be forwarded to the Pima County Office of Emergency Management if it con-
cludes that is needed to attract the proper level of involvement from the State and Federal Government
We just adopted an Emergency Operations Plan. The purpose of the Plan is to allow the Mayor and City
Manager to get out ahead of an emergency, to the extent we have the ability to, and put a game plan into
place. In the case of the unaccompanied minors that would likely involve the Mayor’s office, City Man-
ager’s office, Housing and Community Development, TPD and Non-Governmental agencies out in the com-
munity. Last week the Diocese of Tucson began similar plans. It’s my belief that such an initiative should
come out of the Office of the Mayor where access to broad resources exists.
By Charter, the Mayor has the authority to issue a Declaration of Emergency. If such a declaration is issued,
it’s kicked over to the County Office of Emergency Response. If they agree, it goes to the Board of Supervi-
sors, who can send it to the Governor, who can send it to the President. That’s the chain.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina we saw the White House say that they
had never heard from the Governor, and the Governor say he had never
heard from the Mayor. All that time FEMA was sitting on the sidelines
waiting for the call to start bringing in temporary housing. The purpose of
my calling on the Mayor and City Manager to activate our EOP is to get the
right chess pieces on the board so that in the event things spiral out of con-
trol and we cannot handle the youth who are being sent here, the framework
for engaging Federal assets is formally in place. It’s simply being proactive.
The Diocese and NGOs who met last week were absolutely acting in a responsible and humanitarian man-
ner. They would certainly be a part of the Emergency Operations Plan team that would come out of the
Mayor’s initiative. But if what we’re seeing unfold continues, it’s the leadership in City Hall that should
spearhead coordination of the community assets. That was the intent of my Release. It wasn’t sexy enough
for the headline writer, so whoever that is took some liberties. Now the record is corrected. I stand by my
belief that the coordination and planning for how we respond to this situation properly should come from the
Office of the Mayor, and that activating the Emergency Operations Plan is the means by which that coordi-
nation can be managed.
P A G E 3
Tucson’s Birthday
Senator John McCain (R)
520-670-6334
Senator Jeff
Flake (R)
520-575-8633
Congressman
Ron Barber (D)
(2nd District)
520-881-3588
Congressman
Raul Grijalva (D) (3th District)
520-622-6788
Governor Janice Brewer (R) Governor of Arizona 602-542-4331